Amazon will need to start making more EU-based content
If Amazon wants to keep operating in EU countries, it’s going to need to make more EU-based content. That’s the current suggestion, as the EU looks at new regulations for foreign video services.
Most Prime Originals are currently set in the United States and are created by U.S. production companies. You just have to look at the likes of The Man in the High Castle, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and Jack Ryan for examples of this. Things are about the change if Amazon wants to keep operating in EU countries.
The EU commissioner is looking to add more regulations for foreign video services. It’s not just Amazon being hit with this new regulation, which is expected to be finalized and enacted in December 2018. The regulation still needs to be put forward in a vote, but the European Commission is expecting a positive result for them.
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With the enacted regulation, more content will need to be locally produced. This could be in any of the 28 member states (soon to be 27 when Britain leaves). It can be a mixture of movies and TV shows and will need to be available within the EU block to count.
The quota is set to be a minimum of 30% locally produced, but this could rise to 40%. It’s unclear how this will be enforced by the European Commission and what will happen if it’s not. Also unclear is whether any current productions will be included in this quota.
Amazon is one of the only services to have very little foreign original content on its service. Netflix has grown in this aspect over recent years, so probably won’t have a problem in introducing more. The good news is Amazon has 20 months once the new regulations come into force to meet requirements. It’s not clear what will happen if it doesn’t.
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Do you agree that there should be more locally produced content? Would you like to see more EU-based Prime Originals? Share your thoughts in the comments below.